A man thought it'd be a nice photo opportunity, but the result sent him into a panic and gave us one hilarious image

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A squirrel selfie landed a 17-year-old boy into quite a surprising scare this week after the college seeker got into it with a mad squirrel after trying to take a photo with the wild animal. Both teen Brian Genest and his mother were shocked when a seemingly open and inquisitive squirrel suddenly clung to him, frightened at the flash and noise of the shot from his camera phone. CBS News shares this Friday, May 2, 2014, that the Instagramphotos and above video of the incident have already become a big hit online.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Neither teenager Brian Genest nor the squirrel were hurt, but an attempted squirrel selfie went terribly wrong this week. While the 17-year-old boy was trying to take an unassuming photo op with a squirrel out in Chestnut Park — a popular visiting site not far from Tampa, Florida — his mother managed to catch the friendly squirrel suddenly go mad in surprise.

It is believed the flashing lights and noises of the young man’s camera phone caused the squirrel to become scared, leading it to go at it with the teen, bounding under his shirt and clinging to his back. Genest finally hurled himself to the ground, which shocked the squirrel enough to leap away from him and scurry away.

"He was just in that spot where my arm can't reach him," Genest said. "I threw myself on the ground, and that scared him off."

NBC News reveals this morning in their report that it was Paula Wright, Genest’s mother, who was with him at the time of the squirrel selfie incident. She was taking her son out to look at colleges in the local Florida area. She was the one who captured photos of the event, posting the video of images to their Instagram feed with his selfie, where the funny occurrence soon became a viral hit.

Genest’s mother thinks that this failed squirrel selfie will remind her son in the future to be wary of wild animals, no matter how small or friendly looking. She added that her son was not harmed in any way, and the scared squired was not hurt either.

"I think he got a little lesson from the squirrel that he's not really its buddy," she said with a laugh.

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Ryan Arciero, published author of the YA science fiction novel ‘The Skyscraper of Babel’, is a soon-to-be graduate of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. A senior currently studying Secondary Education and English, Ryan is interested in everything pop culture, from celebrity gossip to social media and entertainment reports. Behind his studies and work as a writer, you might say he's something of a pop culture news junkie! His articles and writings have been featured on Suite101, his school newspaper's Entertainment section, and local web pages and blogs. Please feel free to contact Ryan with any questions, concerns, or comments at RyanPArciero@aol.com.